Jovana Backovic is a Serbian born composer and a vocalist performing traditional music from all over the Balkan region: songs in which young maidens speak to birds and flowers, love lost on the battlefield, waiting for dear ones to return and feeling of nostalgia for the country one has left. This performance will weave together songs from Hungary, Serbia, ex-Yugoslav Macedonia, Greece, Bulgaria as well as old Sephardic melodies.

Polly Hunt, Yana Vlaeva and Alex Gibson are a new London-based vocal trio devoted to traditional polyphonic folk song. Specialising in Bulgarian repertoire, they share a deep love for richly layered vocal music shaped by harmony and close ensemble singing.

Bringing long-standing shared experience to an intimate trio sound, all three have trained with master teachers in Bulgaria, Georgia, the UK and Europe, and have performed in leading ensembles including the London Bulgarian Choir, Nusha Choir in Bulgaria, and Maspindzeli Georgian Choir.